Johnny Houston

In the aftermath of a young man’s death on his 21st birthday, the case of the accused gunman has been bound over to a Hamilton County grand jury.

Carltrovous Moore is charged with first-degree murder and felonious and reckless endangerment. Authorities say he fired shots into a crowd in the early morning hours of July 3 in a successful attempt to kill Jacquard Petty outside the 2301 Club on Milne Street.

At a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Hamilton County General Sessions Court, after listening to emotional testimony about the crime — which may have involved the assault of a girl and the slinging of beer bottles — Judge Johnny Houston said it seemed an entire segment of society has been “flushing themselves down the toilet” in the name of senseless crimes.

Police believe that Mr. Petty’s death may have spurred another shooting July 10 in which Mr. Moore’s sister, Aprol Lanier, was shot in an arm and a leg.

Sgt. Jerri Weary with the Chattanooga Police Department confirmed Wednesday that authorities still are investigating whether the two crimes are related. Ms. Lanier told investigators that she had been having “problems” ever since her brother was arrested in connection with the city’s 10th homicide this year.

Mr. Moore, 26, remained silent during the preliminary hearing in which two witnesses and a detective described the events leading up to Mr. Petty’s death. Mr. Moore remains in jail on a $1 million bond.

Chattanooga homicide detective Karl Fields said one girl, who was not at the hearing, saw Mr. Moore use his T-shirt that night to wrap up the gun used in the killing and throw it away.

“She’s very scared,” Detective Fields said of the witness, citing a series of gang-related shootings in 2006 that he said continues to invoke fear among people with even the remotest connection to gang activity in Chattanooga.

Detective Fields said Mr. Moore is a known member of the Gangster Disciples, but he emphasized his belief that the shooting July 3 is not gang related.

The two other witnesses, including Mr. Petty’s sister Nikita Petty, said they saw Mr. Moore at the scene wearing a blue shirt and talking with the victim before chasing after him and firing a gun three times.

Nikita Petty said she and her friend were the ones to take her brother to the hospital after “asking anybody if someone could help me get my brother off the street.” Ms. Petty testified he was bleeding from the head and was unconscious.

Mr. Moore denies he was at the club that night, according to Detective Fields, telling authorities he was wearing a black T-shirt that day and had heard about the killing from others on the street.

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